Nightmare Realm Summoner

Alex wasn't sure what to call the enormous bone golem. Merely thinking of it as a monster somehow felt wrong. It had been a woman — one who had been so bold as to defy the very System itself. To relegate her to merely being a monster felt wrong.

Her name started with Au. That's how much she got out before the System cut her off. Aubrey? Probably not, but better than only seeing the monster she's become.

I'll go with Aubrey.

Princess slammed into Aubrey with a wordless roar. The two slammed to a halt, black sludge splattering across the ground behind the Dredge as huge bone spikes ripped deep into her body.

The damage from that alone would have been enough to kill anything else of Princess' power, but the dredge refused to fall so easily. Her body knit itself back together as she wrestled with Aubrey, fighting to keep the golem pinned down.

Glint and Spark took advantage of the time they'd been bought. Sparks' shadow split away from him as he raced to get into position, awaiting the perfect moment to strike, while Glint brought his blade-wing down screaming through the air like an executioner's axe.

It slammed into Aubrey's bone-plated neck, digging deep into the armor that covered her with a loud shearing noise before ripping free. Alex gritted his teeth at the awful sound. He was surprised to find that, despite how sharp Glint's attacks were, the cut on the golem's neck wasn't all the way through.

That's some tough fucking armor.

Aubrey let out a grating roar and twisted, slamming a hand into Princess' side and ripping clean through her body, splitting it in two. She grabbed the top half of the Dredge and hurled it into the darkness.

Alex could do nothing but watch in slack-jawed awe as Princess hurtled away. He felt energy drain from her a few moments later as she hit the ground, sustaining even more damage, and started to heal.

Shit. Aubrey's strong.

Glint slashed at the golem again, then spun out of the way of a massive fist that nearly crushed him where he'd stood. Aubrey staggered toward Alex, reaching for him with spine-covered hands the size of horses.

Two blurs shot toward her as Spark burst into motion. He slammed into the golem's back, leaping past spikes to arrive right beside the wound that Glint had inflicted to her neck before bringing both of his hands down on it with a loud crack.

Aubrey twisted with a roar, flinging Spark free and swinging a massive hand at him to bat the monster from the sky.

Spark swapped locations with his shadow, alighting on Aubrey's back once more, and her fist obliterated his clone.

A familiar sensation buzzed at the back of Alex's head. His spine prickled and he spun toward it, a sinking feeling in his stomach that already told him what he would find. Buzzing in the air behind him was a purple scar.

The System was pulling in more monsters.

But why? Aubrey was definitely meant to be the boss. I got more completion from every consequent monster I fought, and I'm already almost at 100%. She was definitely the last fight in the round.

"The hell is this?" Alex called to Keeper. "I'm trying to have a fight here! Hasn't anyone told you it's rude to interrupt? Seriously, I normally wouldn't mind, but can you not read the room?"

"The waves are time-based," Keeper replied. It was silent for a moment longer, silver eye lingering on Aubrey's warped form before flicking to Alex. "And, believe it or not, I am simply trying to help."

How is sending more monsters at me while I'm trying to deal with the fight I'm already in possibly conceivable as help?

Aubrey roared. Rumbling steps echoed through the darkness as Princess charged back into the fight. She slammed into the bone golem for the second time, driving Aubrey back a step, and Alex's other monsters unleashed another series of blows against her.

The golem staggered. But, instead of trying to protect the growing weak spot in its neck, it swung a hand down like an axe at Princess. The Dredge tried to reposition, but she was just too close and the golem was too large.

Her mask shattered under the force of the blow as her entire body was turned into a black, bubbling pancake.

Alex felt a rush of energy flow into him as Princess died. His teeth gritted. There wasn't enough death energy left in the room for him to use Exhume. He wasn't yet out of cards to play, but he was definitely starting to push his limits.

Behind him, the leg of a massive crab emerged from within the portal. The huge creature emerged from within the purple abyss, letting out a clicking hiss as its eyestalks focused on Alex.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another portal carve through the air. It seemed that the System was far from done with sending monsters into the fight. If it had been more of the weak crabs, Alex would have been thrilled.

They were nothing more than fodder to give him death energy to work with — but the large ones were hard enough to kill that he couldn't afford to dedicate much manpower to fighting them without letting Aubrey run free.

He sent a command to Spark, pulling him away from the fight with Aubrey and leaving her to Glint. They couldn't fight three monsters at once. Not ones of this size. He had to kill the crabs first.

Glint dodged out of the way of Aubrey's massive, spiked fists and skirted around her, shimmering from step to step like a river of flowing silver. He didn't try to press forward and attack. His new goal was simply to survive until Alex and Spark could deal with the other opponents.

The newly arrived crab charged him, reaching out with a massive pincer to crush Alex within it.

He darted to the side, throwing himself into a dive and rolling beneath the monster while Spark repositioned in preparation to attack.

I still don't see how this is meant to be helping —

Wait.

A thought struck Alex. He didn't have time to glance back at Keeper… but it was a little too hard to deny. The presence of these crabs just didn't make sense. There was no reason for normal enemies, even stronger ones, to be showing up this late into the trial.

Aubrey was definitely the boss. Defeating her would have brought him to 100% completion.

A leg slammed into the spot where Alex had been standing, but he'd already moved. He was running, feet slamming against the ground as he raced to stay ahead of the crab, his mind moving even faster than his legs.

I told Keeper that I wanted 200% completion. Not 100%. Is Keeper intentionally giving me a way to get a percentage that I shouldn't normally be able to receive?

Alex didn't even dare voice his words aloud — nor did he have the time or breath to muster them. He dove to the side as a leg slammed down into the dark ground where he'd been standing, nearly impaling him.

He rolled to his feet just in time to see a second crab emerge from the other portal that had formed. Alex gritted his teeth and kept running.

If Keeper is trying to help me, I don't want to get it into shit with the System. I've seen just what happens when you do that. In that case… I just need to kill these crabs first. That's the only way to see if I'm right.

Spark leapt.

The crab, which had been mid-turn toward Alex, didn't see the other monster until it was too late and the Knight Wraith was already upon the top of its shell. Spark ripped both of the crab's eyestalks off with a single move, then drove his clawed gauntlets deep into the crab's shell, ripping the chitin apart and tearing deep into its internal organs.

It started to fall.

Alex didn't wait to watch it die. He was already mid-turn toward the new crab when a second rush of energy slammed into him in a wave.

Aubrey let out a victorious roar. Out of the corner of Alex's eye, he spotted her rising, yet another crab alongside her that he hadn't seen arriving.

She'd managed to kill Glint.

Spark landed beside Alex, his one remaining monster. The death energy from the crab they'd just killed would help, but it still wasn't enough for him to use Exhume. He'd need at least one more kill — maybe two.

I could use Encore and use that to get a Qi-empowered Exhume for Glint… but that isn't going to be enough to take me all the way to 200%. I'm just barely halfway through.

The remaining crabs and Aubrey all advanced toward Alex. They didn't care much for his internal debate of the proper way to handle things. All they wanted to do was kill him and end the trial.

"Looks like it's just going to be the two of us for a little bit," Alex told Spark, cracking his neck and flexing his fingers. There was no other option. He had to fight himself. Princess and Glint's powers were within him now — but that wasn't all he had to work with.

Time to find out if that new skill was worth it.

Alex looked up to the monsters, defiance burning within his eyes. He sent his senses within himself, reaching for the magical power that lurked within.

Then he activated Armament Elegy.

A heavy force settled into his palm and drove down onto his back. Alex nearly stumbled before he managed to catch his balance, a silver, mirrored cloak shimmering to life along his shoulders.

He was forced to clasp both of his hands together to keep from dropping the growing pressure against in his hand. Black sludge poured from between his palms. It flowed up against the command of gravity, twisting into the shape of a long sword.

Squirming worms twisted beneath the surface of the sludge, pushing free to reveal rows of centipede legs, curled like hooks. They continued to twitch in unison, even after they locked into place.

And, at the very base of the blade, right above his hands, the sludge split apart to reveal a maw. The very same maw that lurked upon Princess' chest. It felt right in his hands. As if it was an extension of his own body rather than a mere weapon. Your adventure continues at empire

Alex could feel power thrumming within both the sword and the cloak — as if Glint and Princess were right alongside him. And not only that. Alex could still feel their magic within him. Armament Elegy hadn't taken it away.

"Right," Alex breathed, looking up to meet the charge of the monsters as his lips pulled apart into a determined smile. "Let's see what this can do."Nôv(el)B\\jnn